That goes against what RDJ and Feige said about Mandarin in a recent interview. According to Robert, Mandarin was heavy favorite for the third installment.
That's my point. I feel as if this wasn't The Mandarin. It was just some random character that got slapped with the title.
well RDJ isn't wrong about that considering that's exactly who Fav's was building up. I don't think the pay off of "Mandarin" was ultimately met, not when you look at the concept of the trilogy..
1) Iron Man 3 just introduced us to the character without any throw backs to the previous two films (this would have been where Justin Hammer might of actually made a great addition to the film) Hammer, Raza, and Stane were all part of the "10 rings", but i feel like we should have been given a truly obvious connection to that... and we didn't. When in reality, they probably were working for "the Mandarin" with no awareness of AIM or Killian being behind it all
2) yes, we didn't get a comic accurate Mandarin and we probably never were. I think splitting the old mandarin with the new and comparing it to tony/ironman was pretty brilliant, but it's also not necessarily the only way to of had that happen. I think they could have just as easily created a "ras al ghul" who bastardized all cultures.. and was just a truly miserable human being. And focused on making the film have Tony deal with the concept of Magic vs Science. He just witnessed tech and magic he doesn't understand. I think a great struggle for Tony to defeat the Mandarin would have been to learning how to counter this Magic (or Alien Tech) whichever route they took, and apply his knowledge of science ... realizing they are properties that are one in the same. It would have been a nice struggle with many of the same themes we got.
we can always ask our selves "what could have been" i mean in all honesty i think most fans can always take a film and find ways to improve on something, even the best films of all time.
Also... Kingsley lived.. and Killian had a very "comic booky" death... so one could always return.
I wouldn't object to Killian returning with a beard, asgardian or alien tech rings, and Trevor's Robe in a future film.. it's all possible. likely or not.
i wont hold out hope though, because i was perfectly "ok" with this twist. And thought it made for a more thought provoking story.